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Oregon State (1-6) vs. Colorado (5-2) Game Preview

One Reason Why Oregon State Will Win

The Colorado passing game that was so amazing during the first part of the season has hit the skids. QB Steven Montez is still good, but with star receiver Laviska Shenault and a few other parts hurt, the offense isn’t moving lately.

Okay, so going against USC and Washington on the road had something to do with that, too, but all of a sudden, the Buff passing game has gone from explosive and efficient to fizzling out.

Oregon State’s pass defense hasn’t been all that awful.

It got rocked by Ohio State and Washington State, but it’s not like anyone else is slowing them down.

The Beavers have allowed fewer than 250 yards through the air in four the last five games. They give up big plays, and they don’t pick off any passes, but they haven’t been miserable.

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One Reason Why Colorado Will Win

Star RB Jermar Jefferson – one of the bright spots on the season as the top rusher in the Pac-12 so far – has a banged up leg, but he’s expected to give it a go.

The quarterback situation is a big mess. Jake Luton hasn’t been able to get back into the mix with an ankle injury, Jack Colletto hasn’t been able to do much of anything, and Conor Blount is coming off a concussion.

It doesn’t matter all that much behind a line that’s allowing the most sacks of anyone in college football.

No one’s getting any time to operate, but at least the offense is able to put up yards. The defense isn’t doing its part in coming up with any stops.

The Beavers have the second-worst defense in college football. the run defense is non-existent, and there aren’t enough takeaways to make up for the problems.

Colorado might not be all that healthy on the offensive side, but it shouldn’t matter.

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What’s Going To Happen

Oregon State is way overdue to put it all together and finally come up with a real win in the Jonathan Smith era, but unlike UCLA under Chip Kelly and Nebraska under Scott Frost, the team isn’t quite improving to the level where it looks ready to take that one extra step.

The Colorado offense will start to look like the Colorado offense again, the Buff D will get behind the line when it has to, and everything will be back on track again in Boulder – even if it takes a bit of a shootout to get there.